Sunday, June 3, 2018

“Be One” 40th Anniversary Celebration

Recently, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the revelation that resulted in the Priesthood (and Temple) restriction, the Church held the "Be One" celebration:

"Be One" 40th Anniversary Celebration




Notwithstanding there being no official apology from the Church for the obvious racist origins of the restrictions, it was a good celebration (also, the idea of a black man portraying Joseph Smith? Awesome!)

For a book-length discussion of the history of blacks within "Mormonism," see:

Russell W. Stevenson, For the Cause of Righteousness: A Global History of Blacks and Mormonism, 1830-2013 (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2014)

Be sure to also check out the Gospel Topics essay, Race and the Priesthood